1. Field of The Invention
This invention relates generally to garment articles and to a belt means for effecting adjustment of the fit of the garment article to the body of a wearer, to minimize the likelihood of tearing of seams in the crotch region of an oversized garment during movement of the wearer.
2. Description of The Related Art
In the field of protective garments, a wide variety of garment articles have been developed to protect the body against environmental contaminants, including toxins and other materials which are deleterious or undesirable in contact with, or exposure to, the body.
A specific class of garment articles which has been widely used in industry is disposable protective garments, such garments are generally of single-unit construction, serving to cover the trunk and extermities of the wearer's body. Protective garments may be of a wide variety of distinct configurations, including suits which have elasticized cuffs at the wrist and ankle regions of the suit, suits having integral hoods for protecting the wearer's head, and suits which have integral shoe-covering portions and built-in gloves.
Disposable suits of the foregoing types are formed of a wide variety of materials of construction, including paper or other cellulosic materials, thermoplastics, bonded laminants of cellulosic webs with thermoplastic films, etc.
Garments of the foregoing types are used in numerous industrial applications, including toxic waste disposal, asbestos removal from buildings, motor vehicle repair and maintenance, paint spraying, pesticide application, etc.
Although disposable garment articles are typically manufactured in a wide variety of sizes to accommodate different-sized wearers, when such articles are employed on a job site where they are used in quantity by the workforce, it has been typical practice for contracting firms and other business entities employing such suits, to purchase lots of the largest size available, and to modify same for fit on individual wearers, rather than to carry a full line of varying sizes to better fit individual wearers.
The modification of large-sized suits for this purpose typically has taken the form of taping the regions of the suit with "duct tape" on overlapped or gathered areas of the suit, so that it more closely approximates the contours of the wearer's body.
In this respect, the use of oversized suits on undersized wearers poses a specific problem with respect to the crotch region of the garments. It has been found that movement of a wearer in a oversized suit, particularly in operations such as climbing stairs, or otherwise stretching the legs and/or torso in the course of the work activities, frequently results in ripping of the garment in the crotch region.
Though this problem of crotch rip-out in disposable protective garments is to some extent alleviated by taping of the crotch area and adjacent leg and abdominal portions of the garment, to overlap or gather same for a more precise fit, such expedient in many instances produces a worse fit than the unmodified garment. In addition, the taping operation is time-consuming, and may impart an undesired rigidity to the taped area of the garment, rendering it uncomfortable and resistant to free movement of the wearer. Further, it is necessary to provide and apply tape in significant quantities for such garment modification.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,154,183 to R. M. Nunez describes a costume substructure which includes a loose-fitting garment having leg portions and a crotch portion, a set of elongated resilient vertical stays secured to the body portion of a garment in horizonally spaced position thereon, and a set of elongated resilient horizonal stays secured to the body portion of the garment in vertically spaced positions thereon, with the horizontal stays extending completely about the garment. By this arrangement, the two sets of stays are said to support the body portion of the garment in an expanded position spaced away from the body of the wearer, to simulate a creature of larger body proportions.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,253,198 describes a rescue suit for cold water exposure, which comprises a pair of arm portions and a pair of leg portions extending from the body portion. Each of the leg portions terminates in a boot portion and each of the arms terminates in a glove portion. The boot portions include material having a greater tensile strength than the remaining parts of the leg portions, and the body portion has an external surface, a first belt loop and a second belt loop extending from the external surface. The first belt loop is positioned in close proximity to the junction between the arm and body portions of the garment, and the second belt loop is positioned in close proximity to the corresponding junction between the other arm portion and the body portion. A safety belt is positioned within the belt loops to secure a rescue device.
U.S. Patent No. 4,074,364 to G. N. Lucero discloses a hold-down device for a shirt, in which an elastic hip band surrounds the hips of a wearer, and front and rear elastic fabric flaps are secured to the hip band. The flaps converge downwardly to fit the crotch of the wearer. Means are provided to attach the lower ends of the flaps together. Upwardly extending tabs are attached to the hip band at spaced intervals, with means for removably attaching the lower portion of the shirt to the tabs.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,225,254 describes a strap forming a part of a garment, extending downwardly from the upper portion of the garment body and attached to the crotch portion to prevent dropping of the crotch portion of the garment.
U.S. Pat. No. 1,860,727 discloses a garment support comprising an array of straps including a crotch strap removably attachable to a waist band at the back and removably attachable to a flap or cross band at the front.
Accordingly, it would be a substantial advance in the art to provide an effective means for adapting an oversize protective garment to the body of a wearer.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present to provide such improved means for conformably adjusting an oversize protective garment article to the body of a wearer.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such an improved means which minimizes the likelihood of crotch rip out in the use of a garment, when worn by a wearer for whom the garment article is oversized.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be more fully apparent from the ensuing disclosure and appended claims.